Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is the latest party leader to propose
constitutional changes in the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal.

Gordon Brown and David Cameron: both proposing changesPhoto: Eddie Mulholland

By Andrew Porter, Political Editor

9:55AM BST 27 May 2009

Mr Brown, while attempting to defend Labour's record on reforming Westminster, admitted that more needs to be done after The Telegraph exposed deep-seated problems at the heart of British democracy over MPs' expenses .

It follows a pledge by David Cameron, the Tory leader, to give Britain’s “powerless” people more say in how they are governed.

Mr Brown appears to back the call made on Tuesday by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, for MPs to be thrown out if enough people locally move against them and they are shown to have failed.

"The recent controversies crystalise a long-gestating problem of disengagement between the British public and those who serve them as elected representatives," the Prime Minister wrote in The Independent.

Mr Brown said he will consider anything that makes the political elite accountable to citizens.

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It comes as all party leaders scramble to show they understand the gravity of the situation at Westminster in the aftermath of The Telegraph's disclosures over the past 20 days.

On Tuesday, David Cameron set out a wide-ranging set of proposals to reform how law-making works. The Tory leader said power had to pass "from the powerful to the powerless".

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said neither Labour nor the Conservatives go far enough in their plans. He points out that Labour has failed after 12 years to reform the House of Lords.

Mr Brown said: "In a few weeks, Jack Straw will announce the outcome of a long period of consultation on our constitutional renewal Bill. Most MPs enter Parliament to serve the public but that consultation will now have to take into ac-counthe revelations of the abuse of the system.

"Since March we have been consulting on a Green Paper on a Bill of both rights and responsibilities - about how to entrench the rights and freedoms of the British people in relation to the state. In the months ahead we will move in all these areas.

"Yesterday I spent time meeting young people in Fife and tomorrow I will meet members of the Youth Citizenship Commission to talk about how young people can vote on local budgets, run local youth councils and elect members to a national youth parliament.

"I will be talking about how by recall, redress and better representations all local people can have far more influence on local budgets and local decisions, from policing to schooling.

"Everyone must know that they are being heard. We will shortly publish proposals which reform the Commons and put more power where it belongs - in the people's hands. There is no option I will not consider if it redistributes power. What has always been clear to me is that we must look at new ways in which the political elites can be made accountable to serve more effectively the single most important person in our democracy - the citizen."

Mr Cameron, who claimed voters had been left “disgusted” by the expenses scandal, said he would oversee a radical redistribution of power if he became Prime Minister.

He admitted that The Daily Telegraph’s Expenses Files had led to “dramatic and turbulent” times for the political process.

The disclosures could lead to historic cross-party talks on constitutional reform after Labour and the Liberal Democrats welcomed Mr Cameron’s intervention.

“I believe there is only one way out of this national crisis we face,” said Mr Cameron.

“We need a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power. From the state to citizens; from the Government to parliament; from Whitehall to communities. From Brussels to Britain; from judges to the people; from bureaucracy to democracy. Through decentralisation, transparency and accountability we must take power away from the political elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street.”

But he ruled out a move toward proportional representation, a day after Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary — and possibly the man who could succeed Gordon Brown as Labour leader — said it should be looked at as a way of reforming Westminster.